


use your heart while it's beating

by blenderfullasarcasm



Series: Misc Oneshots [5]
Category: Brave (2012), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Food Issues, Gen, How Do I Tag, Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons, at Hogwarts, no beta we die on the hill of poor decisions, no one asked for this but here it is anyway, that's it that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 12:23:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17807876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blenderfullasarcasm/pseuds/blenderfullasarcasm
Summary: Jack really had no idea how he ended up at Hogwarts.Okay, that was kind of a lie. He technically knew HOW he’d ended up there, but he was still kind of stuck on the whole WHY part.(As a side note, he was really getting sick of being stuffed into bags and thrown through portals.)aka the harry potter crossover/fusion fic that literally no one asked for





	use your heart while it's beating

**Author's Note:**

> TW: food/diet/eating issues (in which Jack ponders whether or not spirits eat)

Jack really had no idea how he ended up at Hogwarts.

Okay, that was kind of a lie. He technically knew _how_ he’d ended up there, but he was still kind of stuck on the _why_ part.

(As a side note, he was really getting sick of being stuffed into bags and thrown into portals.)

And now he was expected to sit on a stool in front of an entire school of children with a moldy old hat on his head, apparently? What was the point of that?

He was slightly more optimistic when the hat began to sing - which was pretty cool, actually - but he was pretty sure the only person who could see him was the teacher with the messy hair, who seemed to be starting straight at him with wide eyes.

...but then again they could also be staring at the pair of girls with the hair just in front of him. Both of them looked older than the rest of the kids around, but he could be wrong. One had uncontrollably curly red hair while the other's was golden and probably long enough to circle Jamie's house, or at least his room.

Though he guessed he couldn't really talk about weird hair. But he at least had an excuse, being, you know, a spirit and all.

And anyway, Jack was more interested in the gangly boy with the giant lizard perched on his shoulder, because that was _definitely_ more interesting than weird hair. He didn’t think he’d ever come across anything like that particular breed before.

Well, that might be a lie.

Maybe once.

But he was pretty sure that had been a while ago, and now they were extinct. Time was a bit fluid for him, though, so he couldn't be positive.

Case in point.

While he'd been trying to remember whether or not he'd seen one of those scaly reptiles before - he wasn't entirely sure it was a lizard, now that it had belched flame and set the guy's furry jacket-thing on fire briefly before he absentmindedly patted it out - an astonishingly unremarkable man had begun reading a list of names. The owners of the names - presumably, because Jack wasn't North and didn't know the name of every child in the world - made their way up to the front of the room - some shaking with nerves, others striding confidently, but most attempting to (badly) cover up their misgivings with bravado - to the hat, which was then placed on his or her head. After a varying amount of time, the hat exclaimed a combination of syllables that was supposed to mean something, probably. People were either "Slither-in," "Truffle-puff," "Raven-clawed," or "Iffy-indoors."

He was very confused by the names, but he figured it probably wouldn't matter much, considering he was invisible to most - if not all - of the people in the room.

The girl with the absurdly long hair was "Corona, Rapunzel!" and almost tripped over her hair as she made her way up to the stage where the hat took a long time to declare her a "Slither-in." One of the teachers raised an eyebrow at that, apparently having expected something different.

Fuzzy head was apparently "Dunbroch, Merida!" who stalked up to the hat with a grim determination. It took only a moment to decide she was "Iffy-indoors."

Jack could empathize. He didn't really like being indoors either. Except at North's house, which was usually okay if only because it was cold. Jamie's house was okay, too. And the Warren, but that felt like outside because of all the grass and flowers, so it probably didn’t count.

The next person to be announced ("Finn, Alex!") was much less interesting-looking and had a much more normal name. The hat decided he must be "Raven-clawed."

Jack didn't think he looked injured, but who was he to tell an apparently magic hat how to do its job?

As soon as "Gast, Reagan" had been called, Jack let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He hadn't really expected to be called, but it was a bit disappointing anyway. He wondered what the hat would have judged him to be. Maybe after the ceremony - or whatever this was; the only other event he'd been to where he had to put on unnecessary clothing was the Guardian's ceremony, so he assumed it was something like that - he could sneak over to wherever it was put when it wasn't in use and get an answer.

But even if he did, he still had no idea what the words meant.

"I wonder what the point of this is," he muttered to himself as he sidled a little closer to the front to get a better view, leaning on his staff.

The boy with the lizard on his shoulder glanced his direction, blinking in surprise before saying quietly and with a slight accent, "The headmistress explained it earlier. We're sorted based on certain traits that we exhibit or admire - intelligence and wit for Ravenclaw, ambition and cunning for Slytherin, bravery and chivalry for Gryffindor, or perseverance and loyalty for Hufflepuff - and we spend the rest of our years here with our housemates. The houses are meant to foster unity among the older and younger years while also exploiting the competitive nature of teenagers to make us do our best work. It doesn't always work, though. Slytherin and Gryffindor are infamous for their rivalry, but their battles are usually fought with curses rather than academics. Personally, I think that instead of trying to force them to get along - which the teachers do by scheduling their classes together - it would be better to focus on intrahouse unity - by which I mean a sort of apprentice program between, say the third years and the first years so they can become acclimated to the school and magic itself, especially the, um...I think the British call them 'muggle-borns’? - which would eventually lead to a more stable system and a less intense rivalry."

Jack stared at him, wide-eyed, which the boy misinterpreted. "I, ah, may have extrapolated a little though. Sorry, you didn't ask for my opinions." he muttered, flushing a little and looking away.

"Y - you can see me?"

The boy looked at him quizzically, but his attention was drawn away by the nondescript teacher announcing, "Haddock, Hiccup!" which was apparently him.

Jack’s eyes followed him, stunned, as he walked to the front of the hall. He looked calm, but his shoulders looked tense under his furry jacket. The lizard seemed to notice, though, and licked his ear in what Jack assumed was probably supposed to be some sort of comfort. The boy - Hiccup, apparently - relaxed a little, so it must have worked.

The hat was set on his head - and was it his imagination, or was the announcer-person being a little more careful than earlier? - and Jack waited for the verdict, curious.

The hat seemed to be taking an inordinately long time to decide, so Jack took advantage of the lull to jump on top of his staff, watching warily to see if any eyes followed him. No one paid him any attention, except maybe the teacher with the short, messy blonde hair from earlier, but her eyes moved on rather quickly so it was likely that she was just surveying the room. His heart sank a little, but he smiled wryly. He hadn't really expected anything different. No one really believed in him, so it wasn't - _shouldn't have been_ \- a shock that no one could see him.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the hat clearing its throat - mouth flap? Did it even have a throat, or was it just mimicking someone? - and announced resolutely to the silent crowd, “Ravenclaw.”

There was a scattering of applause as the boy took the hat off his head and handed it gingerly to the man with the scroll, before turning towards his new table. His eyebrows rose, seemingly involuntary, as his eyes caught on Jack’s new location.

Jack's breath caught in his throat. _No way._

Did - was it possible - could he have another believer?

He shook his head, trying not to get his hopes up, but the boy - _Hiccup_ \- had _talked_ to him. That was almost undeniable proof that he could see…well. Jack Frost. Him.

...Huh.

Jack's perception of the room faded as he tried to make sense of it. He barely registered the other names, though some of them were odd enough to slip through the fog (really, who named their kid 'Agnostia’? He wasn't sure that was an actual name, but what was a name, anyway? There weren't really any rules about what could and couldn't be a name, he supposed, so he guessed maybe her parents were just creative.).

He didn't pay much attention until he heard, “Overland, Jackson,” and he felt like he'd fallen into an icy pond all over again.

He glanced around, but no one was coming forward.

The man holding the hat peered at the scroll, coughed, then repeated, “Overland, Jackson.”

Jack hopped off his staff without consciously deciding to and made his way warily to the front. Suddenly, all eyes were on him and he shivered.

Whispers broke out throughout the hall.

_“How did I miss that hair?”_

_“How did we miss that_ staff _?!”_

_“Has he been standing there the whole time?”_

_“What's he wearing?”_

(Jack glanced down and was surprised to see he was wearing some sort of extremely long black jacket - like the other kids, now that he thought about it - over his normal clothes.)

_“Is that - no, never mind. That isn't possible.”_

_“He must be related to the Lovegoods - look, he isn't wearing any shoes.”_

Jack shifted uneasily, clenching his hand tighter around his staff. Was this how the other guardians felt whenever they were around kids?

When he reached the front, he was directed wordlessly to the stool and the hat was unceremoniously plopped on his head.

_Oh, hello. It's been quite a while since I've seen a Guardian._

Jack barely refrained from jumping. _You know who - what I am?_

The hat snorted. _Of course I do, Jack Frost. I am, after all, also a guardian. Not like you,_ it added when Jack blinked in confusion. _I don't have a capital 'G,’ but I'm one of the protectors of this school. Oh, you don't know what it's called? From what I can see of you - yes, I can read your mind, Jack - you'll find this rather humorous. The school's name is Hogwarts._

 _Y-you’re kidding, right?_ Jack barely refrained from giggling hysterically.

_I tried to talk them out of it, but you can see how that turned out. Now, on to business. I can see quite clearly that you're intelligent, but I believe you would fall more on the crafty side than the memorize-facts-for-fun side. Am I right? Ah, yes, and you certainly are ambitious - and pure-hearted to boot. That's a somewhat rare combination nowadays. Oh, this has been a particularly difficult year. You're brave, too - thank you for getting rid of Pitch, by the way. I wish I could've done something, but I didn't know anything was happening until it was too late. Though I'm not sure I would have been much help. I'm a magical hat, yes, but hats aren't particularly renowned for their fighting abilities. All the hats I've spoken to are exceptionally dull, though there was a bonnet that was - I'm getting off track. Jack, I think that you would fit in well in any house, but would I be correct in saying that the things that matter to you more than anything else in the world are your friends and family - and your believers?_

A warm feeling filled his chest as he nodded hesitantly.

_Then, better be…_

_“_ Hufflepuff!”

Jack blinked at the strange sensation of hearing the word both in his head and through his ears before lifting the hat from his head and pushing it into the hands of the man with the scroll. He walked - well, probably, though he couldn't really remember his feet touching the ground - to the table that was cheering the loudest and sat awkwardly at the end of the bench.

One of the older kids apparently found this unacceptable, wrapping a friendly arm around his shoulder and dragging him closer to the rest of the group. Jack tensed involuntarily, not used to people _seeing_ him, much less actually being able to touch him, and feeling vaguely uncomfortable with the whole concept.

The arm was immediately but casually withdrawn, the boy throwing him a wide smile before directing his attention back to the hat.

Jack watched in a daze, not really processing anything until someone's elbowed nudged him gently. He flinched away, startled, locking eyes with the older student next to him.

“Oh, sorry,” the boy said. “ Jackson, was it?”

“Um. I prefer Jack?” He was still kind of trying to process what had just happened, so it came out more like a question than an answer.

“Then, sorry, Jack. I was trying to get to the ham before it's all gone.” He nodded to the other end of the suddenly full buffet-style table. “Want me to grab you anything?”

“Uh, no thanks,” he said automatically. When was the last time he'd eaten? He wasn't even sure he _could_ eat anymore. He couldn't remember ever being hungry since he died, now that he thought about it. But he had definitely eaten at some point - he vaguely recalled swiping a pot pie occasionally whenever someone made a few too many - though he was fairly certain that was at least a hundred years ago.

Had he really not eaten in decades?

...Was food something that Guardians even needed?

The boy frowned. “You should eat something, though. You're looking a bit pale.”

Jack bit back a laugh. Of course he looked pale. He was dead, or a spirit or something. The Man in the Moon had never really clarified that. And besides, it wasn't as if _frost_ was very conducive to body heat. Basically everything he touched froze anyway, because nature magic didn't like being controlled. It was a bit vindictive sometimes, especially at the beginning when he had first been figuring it out.

Well. He was still kind of working on it.

“I'm not very hungry,” he said, when the boy didn't look away, but his hand darted out to grab a roll from the basket in front of him and dropped it quickly on his plate before fractals could form.

The boy nodded approvingly before starting up a conversation with the girl on his other side.

Jack stared at his plate, breathing deeply as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening.

...It wasn't working.

So he shoved his confusion into the back of his mind and pretended it didn't exist. Which. Wasn't exactly the best way to deal with his problems.

But hey. If it worked…

Well, it probably wouldn't in the long run, but it would allow him to focus on not. You know. Messing up.

Ignoring the roll on his plate and _whythehellpeoplecouldSEEHIM_ , Jack’s eyes traveled around the hall of their own accord and were immediately drawn to the brunet from earlier. The one who had explained the housing situation. With the weird name - right, Hiccup. He seemed to be chatting softly with his housemates - the entire table was quieter than his, and definitely quieter than the red ones he was pretty sure were Gryffindors (his first impression had been right; they did seem a bit iffy indoors) - but he also seemed distant, like he was trying not to get too involved in the conversation. Now that Jack thought about it, he also looked older than the other kids who had been sorted, which was kind of strange but no one seemed to be saying anything about it, so it _could_ just be his imagination. The little red-orange-ish lizard-thing had curled up on his shoulder, snorting puffs of smokes out its nose with each exhale. It kinda reminded him of Baby Tooth, somehow.

Which reminded him, he was going to have some _words_ with North. Because, you know. Snow globes that dumped you unexpectedly into a magical school were pretty distinctive.

Come to think of it, he probably should _have words_ with the rest of the Guardians because, really? This stunk of an intervention, and he really had no idea what he’d done to deserve one.

Well.

Unless Bunny was still angry about the blizzard of ‘68.

Which...wasn't impossible.

(That guy sure could hold a grudge.)

But, still. What would the point of sending him to a school, of all places, be?

He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts by a sharp pain in his shin. He jumped slightly, blinking rapidly as the girl across from him apologized. “Sorry, I didn't mean to - hey, are you going to finish that?”

Jack glanced involuntarily at the single roll on his plate and shook his head before offering her a grin. “Nah, you go ahead and have it.”

She smiled brightly, snatching it from his plate and tearing into it. “Thanks! I was wondering who would win that staring contest you had going there.”

Jack felt his eyebrows furrow. “Huh?” was his clearly rather witty rejoinder.

She waved one of her hands in an ambiguous motion, stuffing more bread into her mouth. “Y'know, between you and the bread roll. You've been staring at it all evening.”

Oh. Jack shrugged, mouth still quirking upwards at one corner. Had it really been that long?

She laughed. “Trying to figure out how the food appears on the table?”

“Yeah, how'd you guess?” That seemed as good a reason to be lost in thought as any - certainly better than what actually had his head in the clouds, because he was fairly certain no one was supposed to know about the whole Guardian thing, especially given that they'd called his old human name earlier.

Another laugh. “Takes one to know one. During my first feast, all I could do was take in the food and try to figure out how so much of it appeared at the same time, still warm. Are you muggle-born too? Or - sorry, you're American, aren't you? - no-maj-born? Is that a thing? That's a bit of a mouthful.”

“It's kind of complicated - “ Jack began, preparing himself to bullshit himself a back story that would explain why he knew about magic and could do stuff with it but not how it worked, before he was fortunately interrupted by the headmaster standing and clearing his throat before launching into a speech that Jack admittedly didn't pay too much attention to. Something about things he wasn't supposed to do.

He had a feeling he would end up doing them anyway, regardless of whether or not he actually knew what he wasn't supposed to be doing.

So there wasn't any point in listening, really.

The speech was over fairly quickly, though, and before he could grasp and follow a single tendril of thought from the miasma swirling around him he found himself following a crowd of people out of the Great Hall.

...He wasn't entirely sure how that happened, because he didn't remember getting to his feet, and - _crap,_ was he _floating_?!

That _probably_ wasn't the best thing to do while trying to seem normal.

But, then again. School of _Magic._ Who knew what was normal.

Well, no one else appeared to be affecting the temperature of the air around them, so maybe floating a little bit in order to, you know, _not_ freeze the marble beneath him was actually what he should be doing anyway.

So. Floating it was.

Only slight floating, though - a couple inches at most, barely noticeable. Hopefully.

Ugh, he didn't even know whether or not he _had_ to hide his magical iceberg powers! Great briefing, North. Ten out of ten, would do again.

AND WHY THE HELL COULD PEOPLE SEE HIM!?

Seriously. Some answers would be nice.

But, you know what would _really_ be nice? _Not being dropped into this situation without any explanation._

 _That_ would be nice.

Jack came to an abrupt stop, narrowly avoiding colliding with the girl who'd asked for his roll at dinner. He looked around, trying to figure out why everyone - or, at least, all the people with the black and yellow ties - were now aimlessly milling around instead of moving down the hallway. He was, unfortunately, stumped. The only thing of note in the corridor was a stack of barrels.

Which…

Actually, wasn't that kind of suspicious?

His curiosity mounted when a girl with a shiny badge on her chest cleared her throat and glanced around before saying, “Right, I think that's everyone. You can all see the people you sat next to at supper?”

Jack spotted them fairly quickly, though probably not as quickly as they had found him, considering that his hair color was apparently rather unique here. And, well, everywhere.

The girl with the shiny badge clapped her hands together. “Splendid! Now, listen carefully and repeat after me!” She clapped her hands again, this time in rhythm.

Jack clapped along awkwardly with the cacophony of varied rhythms as people tried to copy her. He was pretty sure that no one actually got it right.

Shiny Badge sighed. “Okay, let’s try that again. Repeat after me - ‘Hel-ga Hu-ffle-puff.’ ”

This was slightly more successful.

“One more time: ‘Hel-ga Hu-ffle-puff.’ ”

Marginally more successful. Jack was pretty sure that he had the rhythm now.

“You can also try ‘taa-ta-ti-ti-ta,’ for those of you who are more musically-minded. Okay, one more time!”

Jack was fairly certain that just about everyone pretty much had it down at that point.

“Okay, we’re going to try clapping again now. Ready - go!”

Clapping. Lots of clapping. Most of it was on beat, though, so apparently her methods worked.

“Lovely! Now, to get into the common room, you have to tap that rhythm onto this specific barrel.” She pointed to one, making sure that everyone saw, before she demonstrated.

Jack watched, intrigued, as a tunnel was revealed. They were ushered through it fairly quickly, though, so he didn’t really have a chance to see much else until he somehow ended up pushed by the flow of people into what he assumed was the common room.

It was...very yellow. And black. With honey-colored wood.

...The whole room kind of reminded him of the inside of a giant bumblebee.

His impression was not changed by the various plants hanging from the ceiling (he was going to have to be careful not to accidentally brush against them - since they’d probably freeze on contact with even just the air around him - which was going to be pretty difficult, given how low they were hanging) or the giant fireplace under a portrait of some woman with a cup and - were those _dancing BADGERS_ carved on the fireplace?

Were those _cacti_ on the walls?

Was - was that one _waving at him?!_

Jack gave up on understanding these people and their taste in furniture. Because _seriously, what._

This place was _so weird_.

It was starting to make him a bit uncomfortable, honestly, but it also vaguely reminded him of the Warren, which was - fine, he guessed.

Shiny Badge smiled and clapped her hands (once, not in the rhythm thing again) to draw everyone's attention to her. “Alright, this is the common room. You'll probably do most of your homework here - don't be afraid to ask someone in the upper years for help if you need it. Through these doors behind me - “ She gestured to the doors, which looked like they belonged to a hobbit, or maybe Bunny. “ - are your dormitories. Girls to the left, boys to the right, and the center is for students who are both or neither or somewhere in between, if they should so desire. Your belongings have already been delivered, thanks to our lovely staff of house elves.”

Jack was confused, because he was _pretty sure_ that he didn't actually have any belongings. He moved around a lot, and there never really seemed to be much of a point in accumulating stuff. He had the clothes he was wearing at that moment, his staff, and a picture of Jamie and Sophie that she had drawn him. He was fairly certain that regular humans, even magical ones, had more than that. It was going to be suspicious when he didn't have a backpack or suitcase or something.

Oh, wait, Shiny Badge was still talking...

“If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me - I'm Emma, by the way - or anyone else. Breakfast is at eight, and we usually walk there together for the first few days just to make sure everyone knows the way. Good night, and see you here at eight tomorrow!”

Well.

Okay, then.

Jack followed the first years through to their dormitories, still reeling from the wizarding taste in furniture and morbidly curious as to what their versions of actual living spaces would look like.

...Surprisingly normal, actually.

There were something like half a dozen beds in the room, all light wood and covered in patchwork quilts, a nightstand beside each and a trunk at the foot of each bed - presumably owned by the other boys.

Jack prepared himself to quietly edge out of the room - or, at least, that’s what he figured would be his only course of action if he wanted to avoid some awkward questions - but then he spotted a trunk with a snowflake carved on top of it. Since all the others appeared to have found their trunks and were rummaging about in them, he figured it was probably meant to be his.

He opened it carefully, wary that Bunny might have tampered with it to get back at him for the _minor_ pranks he may or may not have played recently.

He was relieved when nothing happened, but that relief died a quick and rather ugly death at the sight of the snow globe nestled innocuously in the black fabric of a set of robes, unmistakable and impossible to miss.

Oh, so they _did_ plan to explain the purpose behind their whole unexpected-snow-storm-with-a-side-of-kidnapping thing. Good to know.

As soon as he touched it, it started glowing and Jack, panicking, hid behind one of the beds.

He furrowed his brow when he realized that none of the other boys had stopped unpacking - or, indeed, noticed him at all.

Jack looked back at the snow globe, which was now not only glowing but also swirling around until the inside cleared and an image of North working at his desk appeared.

Jack cleared his throat, tapping his fingers against the sphere impatiently.

North jumped, dropping his tools in the process. “Jack! Finally. Bunny, Tooth, Sandy, Jack is on snow globe!”

Tooth fluttered into view less than a second later, Sandy not too far behind. “Jack!” she exclaimed, wringing her hands together. Sandy smiled and tried to say something, but the images went by too quickly for Jack to comprehend.

Bunny hopped in last, glaring at him - possibly because of the last prank Jack _may or may not_ have pulled.

What could he say. He loved fun.

“Hey, guys. Would one of you mind telling me what's going on here? Because I sure would like to know.”

Tooth frowned. “You mean North didn't tell you?”

North looked guilty in the background. “I told elves to tell him.”

Bunny rolled his eyes so hard that he probably sprained something. “Well, obviously they didn't.”

Tooth broke in with an explanation, finally. “Jack, you need to learn how to use your magic - right now, you can't control it without a staff, and you were lucky that you managed to get away with it when Pitch attacked.”

North nodded gravely, eager to turn the subject away from his elves’ mistake - why had he trusted them to do it in the first place? Everyone knew it was the Yetis who were pretty much the only competent beings up North. Why couldn't he have sent Phil? Jack liked Phil. Phil didn’t really like him, though. His loss. - and back to the whole magical school thing. “You must learn how to use wand.”

Jack snorted, tightening his grip on his staff. "My staff is fine. I don't need to learn how to use a wand."

“Using a wand will help you control your magic, Jack - ”

“I control my magic with my staff just fine!”

"Look, mate, we all had to go through training before we could use our powers properly. I went to school in Australia - "

"Really, Bunny? I'd never have guessed!"

" - yeah, yeah, quit your yapping. North was trained in Russia - "

"Another big surprise."

" - and Tooth went to Ilvermorny in America. Sandy tried one of the ones in Egypt, I think." Sandy’s dream sand twisted into a couple rapid-fire shapes, including an ankh, so Jack assumed that was an agreement.

Tooth took the thread of conversation back up. "The point is, Jack... We want you to be safe even if something happens to your staff. Right now, if it were broken again, especially with the power boost you get from having believers again  - "

Sandy made his sand twist into a picture he thought would represent the situation quite well.

Jack grimaced. "Thanks, Sandy. I've always wanted to know what I'd look like liquefied."

"Jack, you are winter spirit. Frost melts. Is science. Right now, you control body with staff, but that will not always work. You must learn how to control yourself without staff. Is order from Man in Moon."

Jack rolled his eyes. “Oh, well in that case…”

He shoved the globe into a drawer in the nightstand by his right shoulder and closed it violently, both for dramatic purposes and also because he wasn't entirely sure how to turn it off.

Belatedly, he realized that he hadn’t actually asked them how anyone had been able to see him, but he didn’t want to ruin that exit with a sheepish rejoinder. Bunny would never let him hear the end of it.

Well, whatever. As much as he hated to think it, it was possible that the other Guardians kind of, _maybe_ had something _resembling_ a point. It would be nice to be able to walk around without freezing everything he touched. And not melt if he ever lost his staff again. He was lucky he’d been somewhere cold last time.

Jack jumped nimbly onto what was apparently his bed - which was a surprise, because he couldn’t remember ever having his own bed before - and reclined backwards, resting his head on his arms.

Well. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t leave when things got too boring.

Maybe he’d give this whole ‘school’ thing a shot.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this written for ages, but it was originally going to be a fully fleshed-out long fic. Eventually I gave up and just decided to post it as a one shot, or maybe a series of one shots if people are interested.  
> I don't know if I'll ever come back to this universe, so if you're interested you should definitely tell me.  
> \-----  
> Some background in case I never come back:  
> Hiccup is from a Scandinavian tribe of dragon riders. Usually, the magical kids would go to Durmstrang or be homeschooled. Stoic doesn't really have time to train Hiccup, and Hiccup did not want to go Durmstrang. No one else in the village would feel comfortable teaching him, either, because he's basically the one who taught them all everything they know about dragons. No one wants to try to teach their teacher. And Stoic didn't really want to send him there anyway because even though Hiccup’s changed the way they looked at dragons, he still isn't the type of son a village leader would usually have. And then they received a letter from Hogwarts about maybe starting an exchange program for students interested in studying dragons/magical creatures and they jump on it, because they can both agree that Durmstrang is not the place for Hiccup.  
> And Beauxbaton is just no.  
> (There may or may not be a grudge involved.)  
> So before the letter from Hogwarts came, he was kind of in limbo and spent a lot of his time reading up on tribe magic from both his father's books (very dusty) and a couple of other ones his friends lent him.  
> He's a little older than the other first year students, but he doesn't mind very much because he's used to being treated like the youngest.  
> \-----  
> Rapunzel is the halfblood daughter of a pureblood witch who eloped with a muggle. Her deranged, unstable cousin (from the Black side of the family, probably) kidnapped her a few days after her mother died in childbirth and kept her locked up in one of their little-used estates while she was growing up. Instead of letting her go to Hogwarts, Gothel homeschooled her, but realized that she couldn’t keep that up much longer when Rapunzel started getting antsy, having read the owl asking if she would be coming to Hogwarts this year before Gothel could intercept it (like she usually does).  
> (Flynn is a muggle-born on vacation who kind of accidentally ran through the wards to hide from some neighborhood kids. He didn't actually know he was a wizard at that point.  
> And they find out together that the crazy lady wasn't actually Rapunzel's mother. Well, eventually. That might happen over the holidays or winter break or something.)  
> \-----  
> Merida is from the secluded pureblood über-conservative clan Dunbroch. They're kind of crazy. One of her pieces of accidental magic turned her mother into a bear when she found out that her parents wanted her to fulfill one of the club's marriage contracts. She refused, did the whole contest thing from the movie, then decided that she was going to Hogwarts since she hadn't broken enough traditions yet.  
> Her clan taught her their magics, which isn’t the same as Hogwarts-style, so she’s put in first year. She doesn’t care.  
> \-----  
> Jack is thrown to Hogwarts by the Guardians because he can barely control his powers, like all the other Guardians when they were first starting out. And also because they know that he's pretty lonely. People can see him because he was called by his human name during the Sorting so they were all expecting to be able to see someone - they believed Jackson Overland would exist. Plus magic and the Man in the Moon. Hiccup could see him before his name was called because he’s from Berk, where it snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. Of course they believe in Jack Frost.  
> When someone calls him a muggle-born, he goes with it because it's a good excuse for why he knows basically nothing about the wizarding world. Everyone is under the impression that he’s American, which is why they older students try not to push him on his explanations too much, because they know about the whole ‘no mixing’ thing that happens over there. They assume that the American government/education system doesn’t have a way to detect muggle-borns, so he’s had to kind of just figure it out as he goes, which they think is actually kind of impressive.  
> \-----  
> Title from "Finally Free" (Niall Horan, Smallfoot movie)


End file.
